Mountcastle & Hays Homer As Orioles Beat Blue Jays 6-5
TORONTO (AP) — Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run home run, Austin Hays had a solo shot and the Baltimore Orioles held on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Tuesday night.
Mountcastle went 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles and scored twice.
"He had a great night offensively," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.
Jordan Lyles (4-5) allowed five hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings to win for the first time in four starts as the Orioles snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Blue Jays.
Relievers Félix Bautista, Dillon Tate and Cionel Pérez followed Lyles before Jorge López recorded the final five outs for his ninth save in 11 chances.
"It just shows you how good he is," Mountcastle said of López, who retired Toronto's top four hitters plus pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk. "He faced all their guys down the stretch there in the game. He's the real deal. He's fun to play behind and a joy to watch."
Matt Chapman homered and rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno had three hits and drove in the first runs of his career, but Toronto couldn't overcome another rough start by left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, whose winless streak reached five starts.
Mountcastle homered off Kikuchi in the third, his 10th, and Robinson Chirinos hit an RBI double in the fourth.
"Being a little bit more fine and executing my pitches would be key," Kikuchi said through a translator.
Chapman returned to the lineup after missing the past three games because of a sore left wrist. He singled and scored on Bo Bichette's RBI groundout in the third, and connected off Lyles in the fourth for his eighth home run.
Chapman nearly hit a game-tying homer off Pérez in the eighth, but Cedric Mullins caught his deep drive on the warning track in center. Moreno followed with an RBI single.
Toronto left the bases loaded in the third when Lyles fanned Teoscar Hernández to end the inning.
"That was definitely a huge part in the game," Lyles said. "That could have made it a different game at that point."
Kikuchi (2-3) allowed five hits and four runs in four-plus innings, leaving after Hays led off the fifth with his eighth homer this season.
Kikuchi walked four and struck out four. He hasn't won since beating Seattle on May 16.
"When he does throw strikes, he gets people out," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. "But when you pitch behind and you walk people, people are going to score."
Mountcastle greeted reliever Trevor Richards with a double, advanced to third on a grounder and scored on Tyler Nevin's sacrifice fly.
Mullins chased Richards with an RBI single in the sixth.
Moreno's two-out single off Bautista in the bottom half drove in Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to make it 6-4, and his third hit of the night made it a one-run game in the eighth, but the Blue Jays couldn't get any closer.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: 1B Trey Mancini (right hand) was not available. Mancini was hit on the hand while striking out in the sixth inning Monday. X-rays were negative, but Mancini said his hand was badly swollen and might need several days to recover.
Blue Jays: LHP Hyun Jin Ryu needs surgery to repair a ligament in his elbow and will miss the rest of the season. Ryu left a June 1 start against the White Sox after four innings and went on the injured list the next day. ... RHP Julian Merryweather (left abdominal strain) was placed on the 15-day IL and RHP Jeremy Beasley was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.
HANDY MAN
Orioles SS Jorge Mateo made an outstanding barehanded play on Bichette's slow roller for the first out of the ninth.
"He's an amazing fielder," Mountcastle said. "I don't know if he gets the credit he deserves. That really set the tone there for the ninth."
WILD THING
López threw wild pitches to the backstop in both the eighth and ninth, forcing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to bend back from a head-high pitch with his second errant offering.
UP NEXT
Orioles LHP Bruce Zimmerman (2-5, 5.52 ERA) faces Blue Jays RHP José Berríos on Wednesday. Berríos is 6-0 with a 2.94 ERA in eight career games against Baltimore.
(© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)